


Whumptober 24

by Waywocket



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27176923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywocket/pseuds/Waywocket
Summary: It's jut a glitch. Nothing to worry about, right?
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Whumptober 24

It had started at practice. Things had been going well. Practicing the flourish for Fire Fire, and The Spine’s voice stopped. Just for a second, but long enough it took them out of time, and they had to stop the song.

Rabbit giggled, and he put a hand over his throat. It hadn’t hurt, per se, but that was concerning. Perhaps something was just a little loose?

“Mu-mu-must need some oil for that squeaky box,” teased Rabbit, gently nudging him when he looked worried. 

They all laughed it off. It was probably nothing to worry about a little break and a little water, and Spine seemed to be just fine again. The rest of practice went smoothly as ever. For once, it seemed like Rabbit was actually putting a little effort in.

He tried not to think about it anymore. Just a little glitch, that was nothing to be concerned about, surely. Rabbit had lots of glitches, and she was fine. But it kept happening. Just brief glitches, not even a second. He tried not to worry.

Then it started happening more when he was talking with Petes. He would lose whole words in the glitch. He tried not to look worried and smiled down at Six. “Probably in need of a tune-up. It’s been a while.”

Six looked worried all the same, but he nodded. A tune-up was never a bad idea with this group. If only things were ever that simple. He looked perfectly fine. Six tried a few things anyway, just to hopefully make a difference.

The Spine was careful about it but was, hopefully, when he didn’t have any problems for a few days. Only this time, it went out on stage. Singing Starlight Starshine and his voice went away completely. 

Steam rushed through his vents as he got embarrassed. If only the stage would swallow him up. There were whispers, and fans looked concerned.

Luckily, Rabbit was on it. “Don’t worry folks! Ju-just a mic issue! Give us a second, and we’ll be back on track!” Guiding her brother off stage, she got him some extra water and sat with him. “You okay, Spineo?”

Sighing softly, he took the water and sipped it. He just shook his head, unable to talk yet. Now it was becoming a real problem. They had to figure out what was wrong with him. 

But after a short break, he was alright again. At least for a while. At the autograph table, it went completely out. Luckily Zer0 and Rabbit did their best to cover for him. Even if it was mostly them teasing him about being shy. At least people were more amused than put off, so he wouldn’t complain. Well, even if he could.

After that, his voice only came back in short spurts. Maybe an hour at a time. It was terribly frustrating! He could still talk to his siblings over wifi, but it didn’t help with others or going to shows. And it was taking longer and longer to come back. Now he had to wait a full day for just an hour of talking if he didn’t miss his window entirely. It was frustrating.

“I’m sorry, Spine. I can’t see why your voice is going out. It’s got to be something I can’t see. I’ll keep trying. But you’re going to have to get creative a while,” explained Petes after giving him yet another thorough look over. There was nothing he could see. He seemed to be perfect. Six had even changed plating to see if that would do anything useful.

The Spine nodded in understanding as he slipped off the workbench to head upstairs. He kept a straight face, but oil pooled in the corner of his eyes as he panicked. It wasn’t happening. He didn’t want to believe it. What would happen to him now?

Would they lock him up in a vault? Or perhaps shove him into storage to forget about. Walking further, he shuttered. Or would they just scrap him? What good was a musical automaton that couldn’t sing? It’s what he was built for, and now the one thing he couldn’t do.

They were already training a replacement. Rabbit and Zer0 were spending all their free time with them, ‘to show them the ropes’. They were already trying to forget. He just knew it. 

The worst part, he couldn’t blame them for it. The band really helped the manor. They couldn't let it die just because he was useless. That wasn’t fair to the others.

Upstairs he went to the only room with a door. Locking the door to the Hall of Wires, he leaned against it and slid down it. Inside the dark room would be where he stayed. It was better than the vaults or storage. At least there, he was useful.


End file.
